Zine Librarians Code of Ethics Zine pdf

Additional Resources
(because, like, you know, we’re LIBRARIANS)
Giari, Katie. “Cite This Zine.” [Zine] 2 nd ed. New
York. 2009.
https://zines.barnard.edu/sites/default/files/inline/
citethis2010.pdf
Guide to Copyright Permissions
https://www.lib.purdue.edu/uco/Resources/permissions.html
Fair Use for Libraries
http://www.arl.org/focus-areas/copyright-ip/fair-use/code-ofbest-practices#.VG9HuYvF_To
Zine Librarians E-mail List
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/zinelibrarians/info
Zine Library Collection Policy Primer
http://zinelibraries.info/running-a-zine-library/collectionpolicy-primer/
Plus the text of this document and MUCH More
http://zinelibraries.info/
Cover image swiped from
http://www.perfectdayzine.bigcartel.com/
via http://zinecats.tumblr.com/
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Zine Librarians
Code of Ethics Zine
Dear Friends,
This document emerges from years of challenging and joyous conversations about the work we do with zines. As caretakers of these materials,
in our roles as librarians and archivists —independent, public and academic alike—we believe in a set of core values that inform and guide our
work. We disseminate those values here in order to communicate openly
and build trust.
This document aims to support you in asking questions, rather than to
provide definitive answers. Guidelines may not apply uniformly to every
situation, but include discussion of disputed points. This gives zine
librarians and archivists ideas about what has been challenging in the
past and how other zine custodians have dealt with those issues. These
points can guide conversations with users, institutions, authors, donors,
and communities—including other zine librarians and archivists.
The Zine Librarians Code of Ethics is a tool to be used for acquiring,
managing, preserving, and making accessible zines in a library setting,
whether the collection is housed in a public, academic, or special library;
an archives; or a basement. It is not intended to be proscriptive or the
absolute word on the subject.
We started drafting this at the 2014 Zine Librarians (un)Conference in
Durham, NC and worked on it collaboratively over time and space.
This is a snapshot of a living movement. We expect the Zine Librarians
Code of Ethics to change over time, adapting as zine community mores
evolve. Your feedback is welcome and wanted. [email protected]
Created by: Heidy Berthoud, Joshua Barton, Jeremy
Brett, Lisa Darms, Violet Fox, Jenna Freedman,
Jennifer LaSuprema Hecker, Lillian Karabaic,
Rhonda Kauffman, Kelly McElroy, Milo Miller, Honor
Moody, Jude Vachon, Madeline Veitch, Celina
Williams, and Kelly Wooten (who clip-arted the hell
out of this zine)
Published Nov. 1, 2015 in Durham, NC.
(In case you want to CATALOG this zine or
something nerdy like that.)
Additional Considerations
for Zine Subject Analysis
If the zines reside within a larger collection, using some
headings from the “standard” thesaurus adopted by your
library or collection (e.g. Library of Congress Subject Headings, Sears) will make them more discoverable. When
zines turn up alongside books, movies, and other kinds of
information in a catalog search, users will have greater access to alternative perspectives.
When using a thesaurus, adhering to its documented rules
for use creates better collocation, so try to use it “correctly.”
Supplement more formal or established thesauri with others
that provide more accurate language or greater granularity.
Some examples of thesauri to look at include the zinespecific Anchor Archive Thesaurus, or the visual artfocused Art and Architecture Thesaurus.
Local headings that collocate common genres of zines can
be very helpful for users looking to browse a catalog.
More thorough discussion of subject analysis for zines can
be found in the 2013 article: Freedman, Jenna and Rhonda
Kauffman. 2013. “Cutter and Paste: A DIY Guide for Catalogers Who Don’t Know About Zines and Zine Librarians
Who Don’t Know About Cataloging.” In Informed Agitation:
Library and Information Skills in Social Justice Movements
and Beyond edited by Melissa Morone. Library Juice Press.
http://academiccommons.columbia.edu/item/ac:171812.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Translation: Share it! Adapt it! Attribute and Cite!
Print it out and give it away for free (don’t charge)! Seriously!
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3. Subject analysis is a fine art in zine
librarianship/archiving.
As zine librarians/archivists, we make every effort to broaden
access and use through the most relevant and specific subject
headings, summaries, and other notes. This process is not infallible, and sometimes errors will happen, such as the use of
headings that offend or do not resonate with zine creators. It is
important that ways be found in the process to invite feedback
and create avenues for both authors and users to request revisions to a record.
With subject analysis, note that subject terms can be controlled
or uncontrolled. Controlled terms have the benefit of linking a
user to larger swaths of related resources. They come from
controlled vocabularies or subject thesauri like:
 Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
 Library of Congress Genre/Form Thesaurus (LCGFT)
 Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), or
 Anchor Archive Thesaurus
In assigning subject headings to zines, we recognize that there
will be imperfect fits and that catalogers must balance collocation and discoverability of materials with using the language
and terminology of zine authors.
4. Subject access can be enhanced with uncontrolled terms and keyword-rich summary notes.
Beyond subject discoverability, note that when no thesauri
have the right terms to address a particular issue or community
represented in a zine, uncontrolled terms will at least make a
record more keyword searchable. Uncontrolled terms might be
terms used on the fly by the cataloger, or terms pulled from the
resource itself. Getting more significant keywords or phrases in
a summary note will also achieve this and give users a better
sense of the zine to boot.
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Preamble
We, the community of zine librarians
and archivists believe that:
BECAUSE zines
are often produced by
members of marginalized communities,
BECAUSE we
strive to respectfully engage
with and represent those communities,
BECAUSE librarians/archivists
are often
part of the communities that make/read
zines,
BECAUSE the
material itself, so
beautifully and wonderfully
varied, is often weird, ephemeral,
magical, dangerous, and emotional,
BECAUSE we
reject the myth of library/
archival ‘neutrality’,
THEREFORE we
want to be accountable
to our users, our institutions,
our authors, donors, and communities
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ACQUISITION &
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
1. Not All Methods of Acquisition Are Equal.
Libraries and archives can acquire
zines through donations or purchases. Many institutions have small (or
non-existent) budgets for zine acquisitions, and will therefore rely heavily
on donation; we believe this to be
perfectly acceptable and in keeping
with the generous spirit of donors
towards cultural institutions. However we also believe that institutions
should strive when possible to purchase zines.
Because of the non-profit nature of zines,
the creators of zines often lose money (or
barely break even). Financially supporting
zinesters by purchasing their creations can
help sustain their ability to keep making
zines. Moreover, purchasing zines demonstrates respect for the value of the
zinester’s work.
P.S.
In addition to a collection development policy, other policies should be in place. Any institution should be able to answer questions about
how these materials will be managed during their
life on the shelf. As with any other form, zines will
require policies on issues such as how to handle
duplicate titles, or when weeding is appropriate.
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2. There are several aspects of organizational/descriptive work to consider when
processing zines.
Levels of Description
The more detailed descriptions provided for with zines, the
more discoverable they will be. Within the specific conventions of the collecting institution, zines should be described
as fully as possible, but with sensitivity to the amount of private information of living persons that might also be revealed.
Identifying Zinesters
In general, use the form of name on
the piece being cataloged. If reconciling forms of names to an authority
file, use care to identify sensitive cases where the author may not want
their full name associated with the
zine. Be prepared to receive and respond to requests to change or remove name information
in catalog records for zines. We encourage, but do not
mandate, deference to zine creators’ wishes in this regard.
Authority Data For Zinesters
When creating authority records for zinesters, refrain from
recording more personal information than is necessary or
required to identify the person under the rules or conventions of the authority file.
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ORGANIZATION
The following methods of acquisitions are rated in
order of preference:
This section aims to help librarians/archivists think through
some of the implications of making zines accessible via the
core library/archival functions of cataloging, organizing or
describing.
Purchasing directly from the author or
publisher.
1. The zine environment requires careful
thought before embarking on these functions.
Purchasing from a zine distributor
(distro).
To echo our preamble, zines are “often weird, ephemeral,
magical, dangerous, and emotional.” Dangerous to whom,
one might ask? It likely depends on whom one asks, but in
the age of the Internet, at least one prospectively endangered population are zinesters themselves. Librarians and
archivists should consider that making zines discoverable
on the Web or in local catalogs and databases could have
impacts on creators – anything from mild embarrassment to
the divulging of dangerous personal information.
Zine librarians/archivists should strive to make zines as discoverable as possible while also respecting the safety and
privacy of their creators.
Though it can be a bit more work to acquire zines this
way, it ensures that all profits go directly to the author
or publisher.
Zine distros are small distributors who buy zines from
authors or publishers at a discount then resell them.
Though distros can help streamline the acquisitions
process, zine authors/publishers get a smaller cut of
the profits when zines are purchased this way.
Receiving donations from the author or
publisher.
Receiving donations from third parties.
It can be difficult to determine where the donor acquired
their zines, so this can be an ethical quandary.
Creating unauthorized copies.
While some zinesters see no problem with this, especially for out of print materials, many others find it unacceptable and see it as a breach of trust.
Purchasing from an unauthorized third
party. This might include purchasing items from other collectors or sellers online. Some zinesters find it objectionable when others sell their work for profit, while
some do not. Collecting institutions should strive to understand the motives and desires of the zinesters when
making purchase decisions.
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2. Whenever possible, it is important to give
creators the right of refusal if they do not
wish their work to be highly visible.
Because of the often highly personal content of zines, creators
may object to having their material being publicly accessible.
Zinesters (especially those who created zines before the Internet
era) typically create their work without thought to their work ending up in institutions or being read by large numbers of people.
To some, exposure to a wider audience is exciting, but others
may find it unwelcome. For example, a zinester who wrote about
questioning their sexuality as a young person in a zine distributed to their friends may object to having that material available to
patrons in a library, or a particular zinester, as a countercultural
creator, may object to having their zine in a government or academic institution.
When purchasing zines directly from authors or publishers, or
when soliciting donations for an institution, it is ethical (and considerate) to note that the materials will be available to the broader public. This is easily achieved with a quick word when acquiring materials in person, or with an email or note in the comments
section of an online form when purchasing online. This courtesy
may not be necessary when purchasing from a distro; if creators
have placed their work with one, there is typically an expectation
that there will be a wider viewing public.
Still, this only addresses acquisitions of current materials. As alluded to above in the section on acquiring zines, third party donations can be tricky, particularly when the creators may be difficult, or impossible, to track. While it might be an admirable goal
to ask permission of zinesters to include their work in a library/
archives, or at least inform them that their work is in a particular
collection, this may require intensive efforts, depending on the
size (and age) of the donation. The librarian/archivist will have to
gauge the importance of maintaining good relations with
zinesters against the time and resources involved in making and
retaining contact.
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Suggested Process for Obtaining Permissions
What does asking for permission mean? If publishing a
book or academic article, the editor or publisher may provide an official form to get a signature. One’s own form can
suffice if one is working independently. Such a form should
include the following information:
 Name, address, telephone number, and email address.
 Title/position and name of affiliated institution, if any.
 The date of the request.
 A complete and accurate citation.
 A precise description of the proposed use of the copyrighted material as well as when and for how long the
material will be used.
 A signature line for the copyright holder (including their
title if they are representing a company) and the date.
Tracking down the creator of a zine can be difficult, particularly for those published in the 1990s (pre-internet/email
times) or under a pseudonym. If contact info is available on
the zine itself, try using that, or searching online for an
email address, blog, social media account, etc., to make
the request. The Zine Librarians e-mail list or other online
forums may be helpful in tracking down people.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/zinelibrarians/info
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Whenever a zine is reproduced or described online, in social media, in a library catalog or website, or other venue,
if the zine creator(s) contacts the holding institution and
requests that the content be removed or edited, we recommend respecting their wishes. It may be possible to argue fair use based on these principles:
 the purpose of the use;
 the nature of the work used;
 the amount and substantiality of the work used; and
 the effect of the use upon the potential market for or
value of the work used.
However, in the name of community respect, we advise
getting explicit permission whenever possible.
For libraries and archives that accept third party donations, it
may be most important that all parties involved simply act in
good faith. And if there are qualms about a certain donation, or
about third party donations in general, it is always an option to
not accept the zine(s) into the collection.
3. You should have a thoughtful collection
development policy in place.
Having a publicly-accessible collection development policy specifically for your zine collection is highly recommended. The definition of what constitutes a “zine” is nebulous, so having parameters spelled out can help prevent unrelated materials from creeping into a collection (for example, political newsletters, literary
journals, or brochures) when they are unwanted.
A collection development policy is a set of rules or guidelines
that determine the focus of your zine library collection. A written
policy allows an institution to seek out certain zines that fall within scope while being able to confidently reject material that
doesn’t.
Because of the unlimited subjects that zines can be about, a collection development policy statement may include specific areas
of interest for developing (for example, zines by locals). An effective policy might describe the core collection as well as special
interests and exclusions.
Document all efforts to contact the person or
persons. If this is a project with multiple zines that require
permission, use a spreadsheet to keep track of attempts at
contact. This will not provide complete legal protection, but
it is important to do due diligence in this process. If a zine
has more than one author, the editor may need to be contacted (if there is one clear person in this role) as well as
the creator of the content. Locating one of those people will
most likely lead to the others. Sometimes if a zine was created collectively, one person may feel authorized to speak
for the group, and in other cases, they may wish to each
individually give permission for the usage.
4. Zine librarians/archivists should strive to
promote a variety of viewpoints in the zines
in their collection.
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The very heart of zines is their ability to give
voice to those who are not traditionally represented in libraries/archives, so it is vital whenever possible to include zines from underrepresented populations, with consideration to zines
created by people of different races/ethnicities,
genders, classes, ages, abilities, sexual orientations, and so on.
ACCESS
1. Access to zines in libraries and archives
carries an inherent tension.
As librarians and archivists, we have a responsibility to respect the professional and ethical traditions of reasonable
and equitable access to materials.
As cultural advocates who strive to positively and respectfully engage with the creative communities we document,
we also have a responsibility to consider personal and privacy concerns of zine creators.
Because these two responsibilities may come into conflict,
zine librarians and archivists should consider the principles
in this section of the Code with respect to access to materials in their care. Zine libraries/archives will inevitably take
different approaches, some emphasizing preservation, others leaning more toward access. However, regardless of
the librarian’s/archivist’s approach, one should always be
willing to consider a zine maker's requests for how their
work is identified or otherwise treated.
2. Sensitivity to both creator and creation is
paramount in zine librarianship.
Zine librarians and archivists are therefore sensitive to the
environments in which zines are created and distributed.
We should consult with zine creators and communities and
respect the desires for autonomy and privacy of those creators and communities. We should not expose the legal
identities of zine creators in cases where those identities
are not explicitly noted in the zines themselves. We want
zine makers to feel safe having their zines in our libraries.
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3. Seeking permissions for zine usage
can be complex, but remains an
important step.
There are many different uses of zines for which
one should seek permission. For students and
researchers who want to use excerpts or even
images in an academic paper that is not going to
be published in print or online, a citation is usually enough. If one wants to publish an image from
a zine in print or online, we recommend obtaining
permission from authors. There are some gray
areas or casual uses for which zinesters may not
usually request advance permission, for instance,
posting a picture from a zine or a zine cover on
social media or in a blog, usually with a short
credit including the title of the zine and/or the author. Copying an entire zine, even for personal
use, is generally not a respectful practice unless
the creator specifies permission or produces a
zine under an appropriate Creative Commons
license.
Researchers or journalists writing extensively
about a particular zine creator or community
should get in touch with the relevant people directly, when possible. The zine library/archives
holding their works is not a proxy for the people
who created them, but librarians/archivists can
and should direct researchers towards those creators when they can.
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3. Unusable materials are useless materials.
2. Zine usage has a particular context
or contexts associated with it.
In our experience, reproducing or sharing zines
involves not just copyright law and practices, but
also zinesters’ inherent right to decide how their
work is distributed and how widely, and how it is
contextualized. In sum, it is about community,
about respect, and about the simple act of being a
considerate person and information professional.
Zines are not mass-distributed books. They are
often self-published and self-distributed, printed in
very small runs, and intended for a small audience.
Zinesters may feel differently about having their
work openly available on the internet or in print,
made available to a much wider audience.
Some zinesters also feel that context is important.
This can mean the format – that it was meant to be
on paper, and held in the hands – or it can mean
that the zine “works” best when it is read as a
whole product, rather than having one or a few
pages excerpted or reprinted. These are among
the considerations that the zine librarian/archivist
should observe when deciding how or whether to
reproduce an item for use.
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Zine librarians and archivists should strive towards the
highest practical degree of access to the
zines in our care within the context of our
institutional missions and populations.
When we interact with zine creators and donors we should provide a balance between
reader/researcher access and zine creators'
wants and needs regarding privacy.
Zine librarians/archivists should make every
effort to create environments that are physically and emotionally accessible. Whether or
not the institution a zine librarian is housed
within, if there is a larger institution, has a
safer spaces policy, zine libraries should always be sensitive to issues of, among other
things, race, class, gender, sexuality, physical disability, and mental/emotional health.
Zine librarians/archivists’ overarching goal is to facilitate the
recognition of zines as legitimate cultural artifacts documenting 20th- and 21st-century lives. To that end, we should
do our best to preserve them and make them accessible to
future readers and researchers, via physical access and
description. We should be sensitive to how the needs and
wants of zine creators can
conflict with those of scholars, journalists, and people
who read zines for pleasure
and do our best to find a
balance, working in concert
with our constituents: zine
makers and zine readers.
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PRESERVATION
The special nature of zines
should be considered
as part of preservation
Given the ephemeral nature of zines, any
zine may be a one- or few-of-a-kind item.
Proper preservation of materials that meets
the needs and requirements of an institution or zine-collecting body should be used
in order to keep zines in proper condition,
whether they are circulating or not. Zine library preservation practices run a full spectrum, from little-to-no active preservation, to
housing them in acid-free folders and boxes or plastic envelopes. The key is to find
what level of preservation fits the use and
budget of the collection.
It is also important to note that many zine
purchases come with “extras” that libraries
or archives may not be accustomed to receiving. These “extras” may include free
zines, pins, stickers, hand-written notes,
and elaborately decorated envelopes. It is
important to consider if these items will be
saved, and if so, to make sure that staff
who deal with receiving are aware that certain pieces will require special handling. For
instance, these additional materials may be
discarded, shelved or housed with the zine,
or housed separately from the zine in its
own collection.
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USE
Whereas we define access as engaging with zines online
or in physical locations such as zine libraries/archives or at
zine fairs, use in this Code refers to the reproduction of
zines or quoting from zines in another source. Reproduction can include copying zines in their original formats and
redistributing them; printing portions in books; or any kind
of online sharing, from comprehensive archival projects, to
publishing images in online newspapers, blogs, or any form
of social media. This section of the Code is a guide through
questions of zine usage, as well as providing best practices
and ethics regarding copyright and permissions.
1. Zines have copyright just like more
traditionally published materials.
The U.S. copyright code allows librarians/archivists to make
copies for researchers to use for their own research. This
assumes, of course, that the materials won’t be shared or
again reproduced in any way. If further reproduction is required (for example, for exhibits) copyright law requires that
permission be sought from authors. If reproduction is for
educational purposes or significantly transforming the original, this may fall under Fair Use (discussed ahead).
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